Living In Reality Isn't So Bad After All
by Morine123
Summary: "I have a question for you," Ariadne stated. "Ask away," Arthur responded. "If you were the dreamer, why did you put me in that hideous business outfit? Why didn't you put me in something sexier, like, I don't know, lingerie?" Arthur/Ariadne.


Arthur always hated airports. They gave him the chills. He hated the ways his ears popped once he got off the plane. But it seemed after his…excursion, he found comfort in the familiar airport atmosphere.

Arthur was no idiot. He saw the look Ariadne gave him when she left the plane. The look might have had a lot to do with the success of their mission. He didn't care. Once he saw her long, brown hair flow around her face once she exited the plane, he grabbed his bag and followed her in (what he hoped to be) a non-stalkerish manner.

Although he knew once he left the airport he would probably not see Cobb for a long time, he didn't seem to care. He couldn't keep the grin off of his face. He had skillfully saved his fellow team members, which provided his best friend freedom to see his family. He knew he would miss his partner in crime, but Cobb deserved it. It broke Arthur's heart every time he saw the pained look on his friend's face. No, you can't die in a dream—that only wakes you up—but you can feel immense pain, and not just physically.

Lost in his thoughts, Arthur also lost the path Ariadne took after they passed immigration. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cobb greet his father with the biggest smile he had even seen on his face. Once he turned his head, he found a certain young girl waiting for her suitcase on the luggage conveyer belt. He reminded himself not to say anything _too_ stupid before he began approaching her. On his right, he saw Eames smirking at him, chuckling to himself. Usually he would have said something, but he decided to ignore it in order to seize the opportunity staring him right in the face.

Just as he was walking toward Ariadne, she saw her bag round a corner. He noticed how she looked like a lion about to jump for her prey.

Taking a deep breath, he approached her. "Excuse me, miss," he said, keeping up the 'stranger' façade, "I couldn't help but notice you eyeing that bag over there," he pointed. "I was wondering if you needed help?"

Ariadne was taken aback by his strong presence at first, but eventually couldn't stop her smile. "Thanks," she said, not wanting to seem so happy to have him talk to her again.

He shot one more smile at her before retrieving her bag. It was _a lot_ heavier than he had expected. He huffed when he placed the rolling back on the floor.

"Sorry," she mumbled. "It's kind of heavy."

He breathed out. "What do you have in there? Rocks? Bricks? Human bodies?"

She couldn't help but giggle at the last line. "Definitely not human bodies. Text books, actually. One more month left of school means—"

"Finals," he finished for her. "I remember what those were like."

"At least after the finals I get to graduate. I'm having a lot of fun in Paris, but I need a break from studying and," she pointed to her bag, "textbooks."

He pulled the handle of her suitcase up and leaned on it. His large duffle bag was draped over his chest. He had the comfort of just having to carry clothing, and a laptop, as oppose to textbooks. "Are you planning on living in Paris after you graduate?"

"You see, I would…"

"But," he inquired.

"But, I'm horrible at speaking French. Whenever I go to a restaurant, people look at me like I'm insulting them. It's terrible. I'm moving to New York after I graduate. I already have found a tiny apartment downtown. It's expensive, but because of this I think I'll be okay."

Arthur scratched the back of his neck. He calculated a few things in his mind. New York was only a two-hour drive from his family's house. Even shorter if he paid no attention to the speed limits. "Is that the reason you took the job—for the money?"

"At first, I guess. But I think I would have done it regardless of the money," she said, her thoughts drifting. It seemed as if she zoned out for a minute, because she shook her head briefly and looked back at Arthur. "Sorry. I'm distracting you. Your bag has probably already gone around."

"I just had a carry-on," he said, pointing to the duffle bag on his back. She nodded her head in understanding.

Arthur considered himself a confident guy. He didn't falter in conversation, and he always dressed to impress. His relationship with females usually held the same amount of confidence. The only real girlfriend he ever had was in college. She had a bright mind. Long story short, she turned out to be a bitch. No need to go into details of how she thought she was better than him. Over the years, he had a few one-night stands. The reason why his confidence remained high was because he didn't really _know _them.

It was a lot different with Ariadne. Even in his dreams, he was literally shaking before he kissed her. He grew nervous around her. He took her into his dreams as much as possible for the mere reason of him being more comfortable in his dreams.

Standing there at the airport, looking directly into Ariadne's eyes, made him want to be in a dream. He needed that little confidence boost. "Are you taking a flight straight back to Paris?" he asked, hoping she would say: "No! Why don't you take me home with you so we can sleep together tonight? Maybe we could even do more than sleep!"

He tried to blink away his vulgar thoughts.

Ariadne tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "There wasn't another flight to Paris until tomorrow morning. I booked a hotel room for the night. I figured it would give me a little more studying time before my tests. I have another week, but it's still a lot of work. What about you? Now that you're partner-less, are you heading back to your old company, or heading home…"

"My old company probably wants me dead right now for following Cobb. I'm trying to stay low for now. Luckily, they don't know about my family."

Ariadne nodded her head. "I see. Do they live in th—"

Arthur cut her off. "I'm absolutely starved. I haven't eaten for ten hours. I could really go for some lunch. How about you? We could finish this conversation at a nice restaurant. If you would like, we could eat somewhere by your hotel," he suggested.

The mention of food made Ariadne's mouth water. "Yeah. Lunch would be great."

Arthur's smile widened as he started rolling her bag toward the entrance. He once again ignored Eames' teasing smirk. Ariadne tried to reach for her bag, but he told her not to worry about it. This frustrated her, but she didn't want to start a fight.

Ariadne gave the cab driver the address of the Marriot she was staying at before Arthur reminded her to put her seat belt on. She rolled her eyes at his over-protection, but thought it was cute nonetheless.

"Do you mind if I drop my suitcase off before we grab a bite to eat? I don't want to lug that thing around all day."

"Sure," he replied, smoothly.

The cab ride was short because Ariadne made sure the Marriot wasn't too far away from the airport. She didn't want her cab ride to cost an arm and a leg. When they arrived at the hotel, Ariadne took out her wallet to pay, but Arthur insisted he pay for her. Ariadne didn't like being spoiled, so she pushed the matter until Arthur finally caved in.

_I'll make it up during lunch_, he thought.

Arthur helped the cab driver take their bags out from the trunk. While he was picking up his duffle bag, he noticed Ariadne rolling her bag towards the hotel lobby. He waved goodbye to the driver before running after her. When he finally found her again, she had already checked into her room with a hotel card in her hand.

"Do you want to wait here? You can come up if you would like."

He smiled at the invitation presented to him. "I would love to come up."

They both felt the need to be silent when a few other people started flooding into their elevator. Arthur was itching to ask Ariadne more questions, but he wanted to do so in private.

Arthur watched with fascination as Ariadne used her hotel key to open her tiny room. He frowned the moment he entered. "You know, we all got the same share during that mission. I _know_ you could have afforded something a little nicer."

Ariadne set her suitcase down by the bed. Arthur dropped off his bag next to hers, saying that he would pick it up later. "Yeah, well, I also have college loans to pay off. I don't want to waste money on a hotel room."

"Ah, I see," he said, slightly embarrassed for not thinking it before. "Are you ready for lunch?"

"Yep," she nodded her head and followed Arthur out of the tiny hotel room.

Arthur and Ariadne handed their menus to their waitress. They chose a tiny Italian restaurant a five-minute walk away from the Marriot.

"So you grew up in the suburbs," Arthur stated, causing Ariadne to nod her head.

"Yeah. I guess that's why I was so eager to leave. I have a great family, but I wanted to get the hell out of my town."

"So that's why you chose Paris."

"That, and because it has a great program for aspiring architectures, like me. That's why I'm moving to New York. I think it has a good future for me, and I don't need to speak French on a daily basis."

Arthur smiled. "I grew up in Connecticut," he explained.

"How did you discover this amazing…world?" she asked.

"A similar way you did. My college professor recommended me to someone. That someone worked for the company Cobb was working at. I proved myself worthy, and we partnered up. Things were a lot…different before things with Mal got complicated. Cobb was different."

Ariadne didn't know what to say. It was obvious to her that Arthur missed the way his friend used to be. She wanted to go over and wrap him in her arms. She settled for resting her hand on top of his located on the table.

"Are you going to miss him a lot?" she asked.

"Yeah. But I'm also a little worried. I have no idea where I'm going after this. I have to lay low, but I don't want to do nothing," he paused. "Cobb deserves being with his family. He deserves living a peaceful life. Maybe I'll see him again, maybe I won't. As long as he's happy, I don't care."

"You care a lot about him," Ariadne noticed.

"He's my best friend. Who wouldn't be after you spend so much time with them?"

Ariadne noticed how Arthur's grin started to falter. She didn't want to depress him, so she decided to change the subject. "Are you staying with your family in Connecticut for a while?"

He nodded his head. "Yeah. They miss me a lot. Cobb told me to send his regards. They know I do research, they just don't know that I deal with dreams. It's better that they don't know."

"Is it a big family?" Ariadne asked.

"Yeah. There's my parents, my grandfather now lives with us. I have an eighteen-year-old sister, a thirty-year-old sister, and fifteen-year-old and eight-year-old brothers. My parents understand that I don't visit that much, but I don't want to miss out on my siblings' lives."

Ariadne smiled at Arthur's enthusiasm when Arthur talked about his life outside of dreams. "I sometimes wish I weren't an only child."

"Siblings are great, don't get me wrong, but they can be a pain sometimes. High school was pure hell. I was put on babysitting duty all the time because my sister was Miss popular. To top it off, I was the geek of the school."

Ariadne laughed. "Believe me, I know what that's like. I was the geeky-artsy girl. Going to college with people who understand me is a relief."

Arthur was about to say something in return, but their food came, and he wasn't lying when he said he was starving.

Ariadne fiddled around with her hotel key the entire elevator ride up. Arthur offered to walk her up, reminding her how he had left his bag in her room. Arthur had a skill for planning things very well in advance.

Arthur just didn't prepare for the amount of nerves he would have once they finally reached the hotel door.

"When is your flight to Connecticut?" Ariadne asked.

Arthur looked at his watch before responding. "About three hours ago."

Ariadne's eyes widened upon hearing this bit of information. "Three hours ago? I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for you to miss your flight. Shit. Now you don't have anywhere to stay for the night. I feel like a horrible person. I am so sorry."

This was definitely not the reaction Arthur was expecting. He was expecting her to be flirtatious and invite him in. He was expecting her to realize that was he had planned all along. He felt like a complete jerk for making her feel guilty. He felt like even more of a jerk for setting her up, thinking she wanted him as well.

"Don't be sorry," he mumbled. "It was my own fault. I kind of, uh—" he stuttered, something he rarely did, "I kind of did it on purpose."

She quirked an eyebrow. "On purpose? Why would you do that? Don't you want to get back to your family?"

"Ariadne," he whispered, moving closer to her. His goal was to seduce her, but at this point, he just wanted her to understand.

"Arthur," she said with the same volume, "What are you doing?"

"To be perfectly honest I have no idea."

Ariadne took in a deep breath before asking the question that was lingering in her mind. "Why did you kiss me in your dream?"

He was surprised by the forwardness of her question, but he was ready for it nonetheless. "Well, I was the dreamer."

"That's doesn't really explain much," she stated.

"I was the dreamer, so I figured I could do anything I wanted to."

Ariadne stepped in so that their chests were just barely touching. "So you used those projections as an excuse. I do have to say, it wasn't as original as I thought you would be."

"Hey," he said in defense. "I work with details, not originality."

"You know, if you wanted to kiss me, you didn't need to wait until we were dreaming."

Arthur raised an eyebrow. "And how are you so sure we're not dreaming right now?"

Ariadne blushed. "Totem."

"Whe—"

"Bathroom counter," she explained.

"Oh…" he paused, realizing the weight of the situation at hand. "Were you kidding about being able to kiss you when we're not dreaming?"

Ariadne rolled her eyes. "Yes, Arthur. I was kidding. It's under my rules that I only kiss handsome coworkers in dreams," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Arthur smirked and leaned in ever so slightly. "You think I'm handsome?"

"Are you going to kiss me or not, Arthur?" she said in a forward manner.

"Well, si—"

Ariadne grew restless and pushed her lips to his. He chuckled into the kiss before wrapping his strong arms around her tiny waist. She let her arms wrap around his neck. Her right hand gripped her hotel key. Arthur didn't want to do anything the girl in his arms didn't want to do, but he didn't want to seem like he didn't want anything. Arthur's confusion began to attack his confidence.

Ariadne noticed how his arms loosened their grip on her waist. She pulled away from the kiss. Once both her and Arthur opened their eyes, she gasped. It was then that she noticed the amount of emotion in Arthur's eyes.

_Happiness, sorrow, pain, uncertainty, guilt, lust. _

"Arthur, what's wrong?"

He quickly captured her lips with her own, pushing her against the hotel door. Her back hurt a little from the contact. "Arthur…"

"Can we talk later?" he asked, his eyes pleading.

After much thought—or perhaps it was after little thought—Ariadne nodded her head and opened the door to the hotel room. Arthur slammed the door behind him before wrapping his arms around Ariadne once again.

Ariadne could hear Arthur's heartbeat from her position on his chest. Her head was resting just under his chin. Their legs were tangled together. Arthur's fingers were running along Ariadne's bare back and spine.

"I should be studying right now," she mumbled.

Arthur chuckled, his chest rumbling with it. "I can hook you up later, if you want. You can spend as much time as you want in your own personal library, studying."

Ariadne leaned up so she was looking directly into his eyes. "Will I remember everything?"

"You should. It's how I survived my last year of college. Half an hour each day was really six hours."

"Wow," she said, "I don't know why I didn't think about that before."

"That's what you have me for," Arthur said. He said it in a teasing tone, but he was completely serious.

Arthur didn't want to keep any secrets from Ariadne, nor did he want to say goodbye after one amazing night together. So he clutched her body closer to his own and whispered cautiously into her ear.

"I'm mad at Cobb for letting you enter limbo."

Ariadne's eyebrows furrowed. This was the first time she had heard him say anything truly negative about Cobb. It was as if he was held on a pedestal. "He didn't exactly _let_ me. It was my idea. He was hesitant first."

"It doesn't matter whose idea it was. He shouldn't have listened. He should have stopped you from going under with him. He could have taken someone else. He could have take Eames, anyone else. He shouldn't have listened to you," his voice grew with every word that he took. Ariadne started to get a little frightened. She only remembered him raising his voice once.

Ariadne moved her head so she could look at Arthur more clearly. "What are you talking about? It was the only way to complete the mission. It was a good idea. It worked."

"Yeah, and if it didn't?"

"Well, it did, so it doesn't matter what would have happened if it didn't work."

Arthur sat up a little bit in the small hotel bed. He kept his arms around Ariadne, bringing her with him. "You would have been stuck down there for _years_, Ariadne."

"So that's my fault," she stuttered out. "Don't blame Cobb for my faults."

Arthur pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to relief his splitting headache. "I told Cobb to take care of you. I told him to make sure you never had to go down there. He should have listened to me."

Ariadne was shocked at this. She wasn't aware of Arthur's request. "Why didn't you just take care of me yourself? If you think I need so much taking care of…" she said, her voice growing angry. Just because she was female did not mean she couldn't fight her own battles.

"I know you're strong, Ariadne. Believe me, I know. I wouldn't have even let Cobb take you with us at all if you weren't strong."

"What makes you think Cobb would have even listened to you?" Ariadne countered.

"Because he knows what it's like to lose something he loves."

With those words, Ariadne grew silent. In all of her meaningless relationships, she had never heard the "L" word.

"Arthur, what would have happened if I didn't come out of limbo when I planned?" she asked, slightly afraid of the answer.

"I would have followed you there," he said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Do you see why it was dangerous for you to have gone down there in the first place?"

"We would have become just like them," she realized.

"Exactly."

"What we're doing is very dangerous, Arthur. I don't—I don't want to end up like them."

Arthur could sense the fear in Ariadne's voice. "We won't if we don't lose grip on reality. If we don't enter limbo, we _won't_ lose grip on reality. If I knew you were in limbo, I would have gone in straight after you. But I didn't know, and I regret that. If I had known you were coming with us from the beginning of the plan, I would have figured a way to of gone down to the third level with you all. I would have stopped you."

"What's in the past is in the past. Don't beat yourself up over this," she paused, "What's going to happen after we leave here tomorrow?" she finally asked. "I mean, once I move to New York, I guess we're only a train ride away. But until then? And what about after you find a job doing what you were doing with Cobb? You'll have to travel everywhere, and—"

"And I'll still need an architect," he implied. "I can't tell the future, Ariadne. I don't know what's going to happen. But I have been thinking a lot lately about the next few weeks. I don't want to rush this, and I don't want us to do anything you're not comfortable with," he let out a tiny sigh. "My family doesn't know that I'm coming home. I was planning on surprising them. I don't think another few weeks will hurt. That, and I haven't really seen Paris yet."

Ariadne smiled upon hearing this. She nuzzled her head into Arthur's chest. "You can't stay in my dorm, you know. I have a roommate, not to mention it's this tiny little shack filled with notebooks and paper."

"I had my own apartment while we prepped," he explained. "I didn't want to get rid of it just yet."

Ariadne rolled her eyes. "I have a question for you."

"Ask away."

"If you were the dreamer, then why did you put me in that hideous business outfit? I mean, why didn't you put me in something showing a little more skin? I'm not complaining; I'd rather not have all of your projections looking at me half naked. But why didn't you choose something like a little black dress, or lingerie, or at least a business outfit with a lower collar. Unless, of course, you didn't think about it at all."

Arthur poked Ariadne's side, making her jump and giggle at the same time. "For your information, I spent a lot of time with that outfit. Probably more time than I should have," he mumbled. "I found it quite sexy. I'm sorry you didn't think the same of it. I wasn't going to put you into something that you wouldn't have been comfortable in. I had another outfit in mind, but it was far from appropriate to wear in an office building," he whispered into her ear. He tried to be as seductive as he could.

"As for the lingerie question…well, you'll never know what you were wearing underneath that outfit, now will you?"

Ariadne opened up her mouth to speak, but a blush took over her face instead. Arthur laughed at her natural reaction before he leaned in to kiss her passionately for what seemed to be the hundredth time that night. He was ready for a billion more.

THE END


End file.
